Enigma8118 Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Everybody knows about the Steve Perrys Lou Gramms, Brad Delps, and Geoff Tates of the rock world. For me, some of the most underrated/overlooked singers are: Tommy Shaw - Styx Brian Howe - Nugent, Bad Company Dann Huff - Giant John Sykes - Blue Murder Phil Lynott - Thin Lizzy Phil Mogg - UFO Derek St. Holmes - Nugent Sammy Hagar - certainly well known, but doesn't always jump to mind when the "great singers" topic is raised Tony Moore - Riot Mike Tirelli - Jack Starr, Riot, Messiah's Kiss David Byron - Uriah Heep Robin Zander - Cheap Trick Jeff Martin - Racer X, Leatherwolf Eric Martin - Mr. Big Johnny Edwards - Foreigner, King Kobra, Montrose Jimi Jamison - Cobra, Survivor Dave Bickler - Survivor Max Bacon - Bronz, GTR Kip Winger - Winger Ralph Saenz - Steel Panther Probably the most underrated in my book - David Lee Roth. One of a kind, a lot of swagger, and the master of whistle voice in rock. He made the Halen songs his own. Never understood all of the bashing on him as a singer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vocalist Dad Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Glenn Hughes - Deep Purple/Black Country Communion - Stronger than ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VideoHere Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 joe lynn turner jeff scott soto johnette napalitano (concrete blonde) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Validar Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 I definitely second Dann Huff and John Sykes. Giant was made up of some damn good musicians. They were the real deal, but I think the problem was, they waited a bit too late in the 80's to make a dent before the whole grunge movement a few years later. John Sykes was a HUGE part of Whitesnake's success, but they average fan doesn't realize it because he was gone not long after the highly successful "Whitesnake" album was released, which made them a major headlining act. He's an amazing singer and guitar player. A total package. Sykes went on to form Blue Murder with Tony Franklin and Carmine Appice. I think the reason they might not have been bigger than they were is due to the same reasons as Giant. Another singer that comes to mind is Steven Pearcy from Ratt. Not that I think he's "underrated" per se, but it just dawned on me not long ago that I have never heard anyone who sounds like him. No one. He has a very distinct tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma8118 Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 Good call on those others you all, and I can't believe that I forgot Joe Lynn Turner, he's one of my favorites, probably a top 10 or 15 vocalist in my book. He probably suffers from what some of the others do with being a replacement singer instead of original member of some higher profile bands. Too, JLT wasn't just replacing really good singers, he had the difficult task of replacing a couple of vocal gods in Ronnie James Dio (Rainbow) and Ian Gillan (albeit for JLT's short stint in Deep Purple). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronws Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Glenn Hughes - Deep Purple/Black Country Communion - Stronger than ever Darn it, you beat me to it. Glenn is most admired by other pro singers in the biz, describing him as the quintessential rock singer of the 70's, the "singer's" singer. In fact, he thinks of himself as a singer who plays bass guitar, rather than the other way around. It is him and David Coverdale singing duet on "Burn" for Deep Purple. And with Black Country Communion, he is able to do everything he used to do, saved by sobriety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronws Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Another one who doesn't get much mention is another Rainbow singer, Graham Bonnett. Singing one of their biggest commercial hits, "Since You've Been Gone." That dude has a voice that is more "rock" to me than even JLT. Another person who's voice is under-appreciated is Michael Anthony, another former member of Van Halen. Now, he considers himself a bass player who can sing and he sang all the back-up in VH, on albums and live. That is, the only vocal mics that were hot on stage were David's or Sammy's, and Michael's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma8118 Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 Glenn Hughes is not recognized by the general public as a great singer, but among vocalists he is extremely well respected. On "That Metal Show", Eddie Trunk noted that Ronnie James Dio cited Glenn as his favorite rock singer. To quote the "Get in the Cage" parody of Nicolas Cage from SNL - "that's high praise." ^ Good call on Michael Anthony, the high harmony god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma8118 Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 Also: Kelly Hansen - Hurricane, Foreigner Danny Vaughn - Waysted, Tyketto Dan McCafferty - Nazareth Paul Stanley - Kiss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Mike vescera ! There, I got one :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronws Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 On the subject of Uriah Heep, Bernie Shaw, the current and longest running singer, longer than David Byron. For he can sing the entire back catalog as well as anything new. And unlike most singers, checks his ego at the door. His performance on "July Morning" is just as inspiring as the first time the song was performed, a lifetime ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeran Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I think both Brian and Roger from Queen are great. They get overshadowed by the amazing Freddie, as they should, but the other two are great, Brian especially. Never expected to hear someone bring up Pearcy in a singing thread. While I agree that he's one of a kind, and I do love me some Ratt, I'm not a fan of his voice. I'll also throw in Phil Lewis from LA Guns into consideration. He's also kept his voice, and they've been around for 25 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiran Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Don Dokken in his prime. I always thought he had a very distinctive and 'nice on the ear' tone and vibrato. I also liked the way he chose a more gentle approach to singing in a hard rock setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Glenn Hughes is totally amazing. Tommy Karevik from Seventh Wonder is also just crazily talented, and was brought to my attention just recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PosterBoy Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I think Phil Sneed from Greekfire (also guitarist and BV in Story of the year) will be one to look out for in the future, he's got some serious pipes on him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiran Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Oh and Paul shortino, that guy just seems to get better with age Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Validar Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Never expected to hear someone bring up Pearcy in a singing thread. While I agree that he's one of a kind, and I do love me some Ratt, I'm not a fan of his voice. Yeah, I've always had a neutral stance with his voice. I've never terribly disliked it, but I've never held it in high regard, either. Ratt was always about the songs themselves and the great guitar work for me. I was listening to "Invasion of Your Privacy" in my car a few weeks ago, and for some odd reason, it hit me that I have never heard anyone who even remotely sounds like him. I'll second Phil Lewis, as well. I saw L.A. Guns about two years ago in a small club, and was surprised at just how good he was live. The whole band as well, for that matter. They hung out with everyone at the bar for about an hour after the show was over, too. Cool bunch of guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeran Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 My band opened for Phil's version of LA Guns on New Year's Eve a couple of years back, and Phil was really cool. We hung out and had a shot after their show and he was down to Earth and friendly, as was the rest of the band. I've seen Ratt twice now, both times within the last three years, and Pearcy's had trouble both times. But as you say, the songs in general are the draw. Warren was great both times, and may even be one of the better live guitarists I've seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VideoHere Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 did anyone mention paul carrack? how about freddie cursi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Mark Farner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma8118 Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 ^ agree on Farner and especially Curci. What Freddie Curci did on the Sheriff album is one of the all time great rock vocal performances laid down IMO. He hit up to C6's and maybe even higher on that record and a lot of his really high notes in that general range were held out for a very, very long time. Nice tone too overall for 'clean voice' type singing, and the really high notes were not screams, they were notes he sang. Though the band was not around for very long, there is a live recording where he shows that he could do it live, too. Most people who know about him are familiar with his long note at the end of "When I'm with You", which is great, but there are other things on that album that are even more impressive to me. Check out "Living for a Dream" by Sheriff. I know he was a forum member here at some point, but I searched for him recently and it seems he is not any longer (or at least I could not find him). It seems that at least some of that incredible range was due to his being very young back then. Later on, "When I'm with You" was performed live a full step lower than the original and more recent recordings I've seen of him show that his voice did not retain the same quality as when he was in Sheriff. That album material would be extremely difficult for anyone to do consistently though. He was a great one but never really had the type of success that such a rare and impressive voice deserved despite some success after-the-fact with Sheriff and later on with Alias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cyr Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Dave Bickler (Survivor) Eric Martin (Mr Big) Jeff Martin (Racer X) All killers in their prime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyK64 Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 I so agree Phil Lewis of LA Guns is always overlooked. Amazing voice. And it's stayed amazing for 30 years. Eric Martin is also one I'll second (or 3rd). Like butta! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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